It was a cloudy day in Kumogakure. It always was. Luckily, the clouds had decided to pity the young boy training today, and didn't rain on him. The wind was gentle, and seemed to shift every time the boy's fist hit the wooden pole in the ground. The boy would plant one foot in the ground, then strike and continue moving. Each hit echoed louder and louder until finally it stopped.

The boy panted. He desperately wanted to sit down, but he knew if he did, then his body would cramp up. He had been at this for about thirty minutes. Not counting his ten minute not quite a sprint, but definitely not a slow jog to get to the training grounds. He reached his hands in the air, and brought them down to the earth, stopping at his toes.

He then raised them to the air and brought them back behind his head. He moved his arms and legs like this until he didn't feel stiff anymore. He sat on the ground and yawned.

Sure, the boy had loved to do physical stuff, but he knew that to become a shinobi you needed to be very flexible with your chakra. The easiest way for a beginner to train his chakra was to meditate, or so he read once.

He closed his eyes. Meditating wasn't hard to him. Actually, it had come easy. Being able to zone out was one of the talents he had acquired for running for so long. He took a deep breath and the wind ceased around him, the birds stopped chirping, and the light faded away.

His last thought before he entered meditation was he wished he had someone to help him out with all this chakra activity.

Ryūka woke up in a completely dark room. That's how he liked it. "I wondered how the weather today will be..." he thought, as he opened the window (that was covered by wood to not let the sunshine in). He opened it. Clouds. "Oh wow. Can't believe it's cloudy. What a surprise.". He had a smile on his face, as he got into his regular cloudy day clothes (which were just his regular clothes), grabbed his ninja stuff and his notebook; and jumped out of the window he had opened. The landlord had warned him numerous times, saying a thief might break in if Ryūka keeps leaving his window open when he's out. Ryūka didn't really take him seriously; since anything he had left in his room when he went out, was simply not valuable enough to be stolen (in his mind anyway).

The street he stumbled on to was empty. Ryūka closed his eyes, took a deep breath and enjoyed the silence, "Silence in the sky... Silence in the sky... If I... No it's not working. For some reason. Silence usually works. There's something wrong with the rhytm.". He kept listening to the silence, and picked up a faint sound of footsteps. He looked around. "Must be coming from the next street. Wait doesn't that road lead to the Training Grounds? Oh! Maybe it's another ninja. Maybe it's even someone I know.". Ryūka followed the footsteps. After a few seconds of going towards the sound, Nero realized they weren't necessarily moving anywhere, but coming (generally) from the same area. "Huh.".

After a few minutes, Ryūka found the source of the sound. "Do I know him? No I don't think so.". He moved with slow steps towards the other boy that seemed to be meditating. Ryūka would also sit down, not too close to the other person, take out his notebook and start scribbling stuff. "Hey." he would shout, "How you doing?". He pointed at himself with his thumb, "It's Ryūka.". He kept writing on his notebook, and mumbling stuff, "Are you out training as well?". He returned his focus to his notebook, "Silence in the sky... Silence isn't in the sky though, it's just there. Maybe something like... Silence, all around. Fog in the sky. Huh. Maybe it'll work.".

As soon as he had entered meditating, he had been thrown right out of it. He was aware that someone was there. He opened one eye - so he could easily go back into meditating if wanted - and casted his gaze upon him. The man sitting in front of him had long hair with various blotches of pink and blue, but mostly pink. He was just a little bit less taller than him, but not by much. He continued to watch him until he finished speaking, and once he did, then Zyxis responded.

"Hi, my name is Zyxis," He began. He opened his other eye, focusing his full attention on... Ryūka, was his name? Interesting. He reached out his hand, hoping the other person would shake it. If not, it would quite awkward. If he shook it or not, Zyxis would continue.

His eyes drooped down to his notebook and then back to him. The man seemed... interesting. Not in a bad way or anything like that, he seemed to be very interested in his notebook. He fervently wrote in it from what the boy could see from that one page. He fought down the urge to ask about what he was writing, as that would be rude.

He suddenly got an idea. Maybe this man was a shinobi too? Or was training to be a shinobi. There had to be a reason that he came out to the training grounds. It would be uncommon for him to be some citizen who just wandered out here.

"Excuse me. Are you a shinobi? If so, would you mind teaching me something," He put his hands on his chin in a thinking position, "You see, I'm in the Academy right now. I'm trying to learn how to use my chakra so I can learn the Substitution and Clone Jutsu."

"Silence of the storm... If i closed down my eyes, maybe I'd wake up on other... Sights? That- no that doesn't rhyme. It almost rhymes, but that's not enough. Come on I can do better than that.". Ryūka raised his head, "Oh, sorry." he said to the boy, "I hope I didn't bother you with my presence. It's... Nice to meet you two, by the way, Zyxis.". He scribbled on his notebook. It was an unusually fast start to his writing session. Usually, when he got out of his house, he would just walk around, without a goal in his mind, just enjoying himself, and allowing his brain to wake up. It usually took him tens of minutes, if not hours to get down and focus on his writing. Today though, the following of the sound he had heard lead to him to start his artistic endeavours much earlier and faster than usual. And perhaps his brain, not being used to being put to work like this, wasn't ready yet. He was getting stuck much more often than usual, and he was having a much harder time picking the words he was looking for.

He realized it soon enough. That something was not working. Maybe he needed to put his notebook away for a short while. He scribbled a little bit more. "Yeah I'm a shinobi." he answered, not raising his head from his work, visibly lost in it, "I... I mean barely. I'm quite a new one. And uh...". He raised his head, to look at the boy. Ryūka himself was still a bit of a student. He had just recently graduated from the academy. He only knew the basic techniques you needed to know to accomplish that task, and nothing more. He weighed in the upsides and downsides to being an interim teacher to the boy sharing the street with him. He could have maybe helped him, but he could also make things worse, not a great teacher himself. He thought for a second, then answered, "I think I can show you some stuff, sure.". He closed his notebook carefully, and put it into his jacket with a slow and subtle move, along with the pen he was using. "How are the classes in the academy, by the way? I know I was constantly bored during the lessons in the classrooms. The practice lessons outside are usually really fun though. What do you think?". As he said that, the Genin got up from the ground and picked a spot where he wouldn't be close to any of the walls, or Zyxis.

"So... I guess I'll start off with the Clone Technique. Because here's the thing - some of the teachers in the academy may not care about it so much, but there is actually a logic behind the order you learn these techniques. You'll see in a minute. You probably know the handseals, but I'll remind you just in case. Ram.", Ryūka did the handseal, "Snake, and Tiger. If you have a hard time remembering the handseals, or the order, I suggest making up a story behind them. It works really well. Here, watch. There once was a ram...". He did the handseal once again, "...who got bitten by a snake.", he did the Snake handseal, "Then a tiger came in to save him. The ram was just a clone of the tiger that was transformed into a ram. What do you think about the plot twist? Oh wait - We're getting out of topic, sorry. You do the handseals, and while you do them, just really focus on there being copies of you. That's pretty much it to be honest. If you don't overcomplicate things for yourself, they work better.". Ryūka waited for the boy to answer him and do the Clone Technique himself so that he may move on with his teachings.

So he was a shinobi. His heart instantly started pumping. This was his chance to learn things, he couldn't give it up. He was the first shinobi he met, but he had just graduated from the academy. He shrugged in response. A shinobi was a shinobi after all.

He might not know how to rip up jagged rocks from the earth or create tsunamis, but he could learn about that later. Right now, he had to get the basics, and this was the perfect teacher to do that.

"It's all right," He said, pushing himself up. He stretched a bit more. His legs and arms were sore from the huge workout he had done earlier. But he still didn't want to give up on this chance to improve. When he said he could teach him he smiled for the first time since that had met.

He agreed with Ryūka on the thing about the Clone Technique. It was ridiculous how the teachers didn't focus on it as much as the other two. It seemed as if it would be really beneficial to new shinobi who needed more distraction type jutsu. He was already thinking of ways to use it, but he stopped himself before he went ahead.

His chakra fluctuated as he paid attention to the lesson. His body wanted him to control and release the chakra but he fought down the urge, as to not be rude.

"The story part was really interesting, actually. I've never really thought of a good way to remember the hand seals. Thanks, Ryūka, now I won't ever forget them," He said flashing a small smile. The man seemed kind of shy, or that was the vibe he was getting. He wanted to reassure him that everything was okay.

His face instantly went blank. He closed his eyes as he channeled the chakra throughout his body. It snaked around his limbs, reaching every tendon and joint. His whole body seemed to shift apart as two clones appeared right next to him. He turned and they-

Were absolutely trash. They looked nothing like him at all. He sighed and dispelled both clones. He began to concentrate again. It took him three more tries before he was able to create clones that looked exactly like him. He turned towards Ryūka.

He chuckled a bit, "I was over complicating things in the beginning, but I understand what you mean now. Give me a second."

He closed his eyes again and began to shift through the hand seals, but never actually doing the jutsu. Zyxis just felt the chakra moving around his body, shifting and coursing to ever part. The more he did it the more he began to understand how the jutsu worked and how the clone was formed.

"You're a fast learner." Ryūka said, chuckling, "That's a good feature for a ninja to have. Even if you are currently a student.". Ryūka thought back to his academy days, oh how beautiful and fun they were. They seemed so distant now. Him learning about Chakra for the first time, learning what elements, Jutsu, and sparring was. Well it was a lifetime ago now, almost a whole month.

"I'm glad you liked the story part, because here's where it gets a little bit more complex. The reason I said the order of learning the techniques matters is this: The clone technique, and the Substitution Technique are usually spoken of in the Ninja World as if they are 2 completely seperate techniques. But here's the thing. They're connected, as everything in life is. - Hold on give me a second here.". He raised a finger as he asked for a time off, and took out his notebook and pen from his jacket. He started writing, "They're connected, as everything in life is.". He looked at the sentence he wrote, scribbled it, and wrote again, "They're connected, as everything is. We're connected like everything. Something like this, sure.". He then put the notebook and pen back into the inner pocket of his jacket. “Sorry about that, where was I? Oh right. To answer your question, the next thing we’ll be looking at is the Transformation Technique, and the Substitution Technique will come last. Again, you’ll get why in a second.”.

Nero started forming handseals again, while telling a story, using the names of the seals, “The dog was looking for his Boar friend, but it could only see Rams around him… You get it? The Boar had used the Transformation Technique to hide between the Rams, so he could not be seen. It’s a stupid story, but it’s how the Technique gets used. These simple tricks are a lot more useful than they seem, they are the basic columns of every ninja’s special kit. If you ever go out on an infiltration mission for instance, this simple trick could - will be life-saving.”.

He used the Transformation technique, to turn his hair white and shorter, matching the hair of the student standing in front of him. Ryūka winked at him. “Like this.” he said, “Do it quickly, I’m moving on to the Substitution Technique as soon as possible, while everything is still fresh.”. Ryūka gave the boy enough time so he could perform the technique. In the meanwhile he would (not surprisingly) be writing some things on his notebook. After a good amount of passed, and hopefully if the boy was successful at performing the technique, Ryūka would continue. “As I said earlier, it’s not accurate to think of these Beginner Techniques as 3 different ones. I explained to you how to think of the Clone Technique. You’re not really creating a clone of yourself, they can’t hold stuff, they can’t push, pull, hurt. They’re mirages. The transformation Technique is somewhat creating that mirage over your body. Though, don’t confuse these “mirages” with Genjutsu. The Substitution Technique is a mix of both, and a little bit more advanced.”. He started cracking his knuckles, “I’m glad you liked the story thing by the way. Most things come from, or become stories after all; it’s useful to pay attention to those happening around you. Where do you think the handseals we make come from? They are not random hand poses and the names, if you’ve noticed, are not random either. Now try to come up with this yourself.”. He did the handseals, Tiger → Boar → Ox → Dog → Snake.

“Maybe I’m faulty in teaching this way…” Ryūka thought, “Stories don’t have to interest other people as much as they do me. And maybe that interest is what fuels the success behind these training techniques for me. And so, they might not even work for people who aren’t like me. We’ll see. Hopefully my techniques can be useful for others as well as myself.”. He waited for Zyxis to follow his lead in using the Jutsu.

Zyxis couldn't help but notice how unique his idea of teaching was. He knew for sure that if anybody else had began to teach him today, then it would be severely different from his ways. He nodded as Ryūka continued his lesson. Substitution, something else he severely wanted to learn. His mind always conjured up different ideas on how to jutsu. As a runner, someone that always moved forward, he was always looking on how to delve and improve on it.

With this, he would be able to disappear and reappear in an instance. You couldn't tell him that wasn't a runner's dream. He shook his head clearing away those thoughts, and continued to listen. Substitution would come later, first there would have to be transformation. He wasn't as enthusiastic about learning this one, but knew it could work.

Ryūka pulled out his notebook again and began to write. Zyxis took the time to test the hand seals one-by-one, getting used to the feeling of messing with his chakra.

Zyxis released his hand seals and let go of his chakra as Ryūka began to speak again. As soon as the older boy started using hand seals he copied them, experiencing the different ways it tugged and pulled at his chakra. He listened to the story. Maybe he should try and make a short one as well?

"Dog, Boar and then Ram. First there was the dog that chased the boar, but met an unfortunate encounter with a ram." He muttered to himself. He looked up to see Ryūka with the same exact hair as his. He deadpanned, "It looks nice, but I prefer your more colorful hair."

He forgo the man's copy of his hairstyle as he focused on doing the technique. He wanted to imagine what it would be like to become the complete opposite of him. An appearance of smoke entered the clearing as he did the technique. The smoke then came to fade away as the jutsu finished. When it disappeared, there stood a short boy with dark skin and coal-black hair. He had emerald-green eyes and his hair went down to his shoulders.

"How do I look?" He said with a devilish smile. He was positive that this would make Ryūka cringe a little bit. This boy wasn't really the epitome of attraction after all. He released the technique and began to go over things that were different when he did it. He still felt like himself during the technique, the addition of weight was just chakra and nothing else. It was more like a Genjutsu then Ninjutsu, Zyxis thought.

He continued to listen to Ryūka's lesson. His theory - well not really a theory, more of a correct opinion - about the beginner techniques intrigued the white-haired boy. Everything that had to do with the techniques were kind of mirages. The clones were intangible as well as the transformation, which he already had thought about before. Substitution was more advanced, like Ryūka had said, but he began to understand more about chakra and techniques just by thinking through them

No wonder chakra had to be a balance of physical and mental capability. Ryūka then told him to make a story of his own. He chuckled to himself a little bit as he had unintentionally did it earlier, but he wouldn't mind making up another one.

"The tiger had once stumbled upon a fell down boar. He realized that it had been pierced by an oxen's horn. He went to eat it but was scared off by a roar. The roar was actually the call of a greedy dog, who had wanted the meat to himself. But sadly, the dog entered the clearing and was bit by a snake, left to die along the boar." Zyxis said. When he finished he realized how it was basically just the way of life. Life and death, the animal kingdom, etc.

He thought about his story as he manipulated his chakra, the idea of the continuation of time and life and death served to make him think more about his improvement. The path that was continued forward. These jutsu would be his first three steps along the road.

And then all of a sudden his world shifted and his chakra slammed back into his body where it had come from. He turned around to see a log in the place he was before. He had done it.

“There once was a ram, who got bitten by a snake. Then a tiger came in to eat the snake, revealing the ram was just a transformed clone. It was accurate enough. It was a non-rhyme short limerick that will serve as a reminder of the hand seals for him. That’s enough for him, that’s what he needs and wants. No need to get more into it. I can’t help but feel as if I’ve been dishonest though, as I haven’t told him the story right, and I haven’t told the whole of it. There once was a ninja named Dainichi, dubbed ‘The Ram of Konoha’, he was kind and endearing. Him and his brother were important people for them at the time, him with his smarts and kindness, and his brother with his pure physical strength and fair sense of law; they helped the village through hard times. One day though, his brother Fugen, dubbed ‘The Tiger of Konoha’, left the village in secret. After a week of not showing, he was announced a missing ninja by the village’s leader. After a month, an order was given to scout and capture him, if possible; and if not, kill him. They could only think of one person who even had a remote chance to stand against the Tiger though, his own brother. And when they met; Fugen knew his brother had no chance against him, so he carelessly attacked him using brute force. As soon as Fugen’s blade went through his enemy’s body, he realised that the person wasn’t him, but one dressed as him; Dainichi’s wife. Dainichi himself, who was hiding in bushes nearby, had already attacked Fugen when he gave him an opening; sacrificing his own wife, to accomplish the task of killing his own brother. It’s kind of grim. It is what it is though I didn’t write it. I wish I did, it’s a good story. The details I can’t recall right now make it an even better one… Oh wait! He did the Substitution Technique just fine. Great on Zyxis. This kid has real talent...”.

Ryūka chuckled. “Yeah I guess that works. You know, give it a chance, but if it doesn’t work for you, everyone can figure out what works for themselves.”. Ryūka let go of the Transformation on his face, his hair going back to its ‘natural’ cut and colors. “Also here’s the thing, if you care, about the hand seal names. I’m pretty sure that you’ve noticed they’re zodiac names, not just random animal names. You’ll come across quite a few books in the town about what those zodiac signs mean. Now to be clear here, I don’t believe in signs - though I’ll still respect you if you do - mainly because I don’t like the thought there are a set number of personality types and that’s it - a small number at that. Either way, in my opinion they’re still interesting and there’s still thought to be put into there. Like thinking about why you can only cast certain Jutsu with specific hand seals, and why that hand seals have specific poses and names. I’m still studying these theories, so it’s kind of an uncharted area of philosophy- I… I’m sorry, I’m not going overboard with these right?”.

Nero chuckled, he realised that not everyone was a 2-year old who learned most he knew from books. So not everyone was as interested in book-topics as he was. “I’ll try to maintain my focus on the part that concerns you - Ninjutsu. Sorry. There is just an overlap (I believe) with the stereotypes, and thus the general consensus on these signs; and the hand seals that represent them, which also ties in to the Jutsu we use those hand seals to create. It’s easy enough to follow right? It’s currently a thesis I’m working on… But I don’t know when I’ll be making any progress, to be honest.”. Ryūka sighed.

“Sorry if that was too much. Tell me more about you, Zyxis. What’s your deal? Who are you? Also, since we've kind of prepared you for the physical part of the Genin Exam, let me ask you something I assume they will ask you about in the exam; what is your purpose to become a ninja, and what will your purpose be, as one?”.

There he went scribbling into his notebook once again. The sound of the pen gently sliding against the paper didn't bother him. He seemed to enjoy it, maybe he should look into righting down notes about his jutsu? Anyway, he knew for sure that his story wasn't as good as Ryūka's, he had just thought it up on the spot. But it somewhat helped him remember. When Ryūka mentioned that making stories out of things to remember them didn't work for everybody he could only shake his head.

"I think that most people don't take the time to do it, but for those who do it really helps.They don't even have to be complex or anything like that. One of the first things they learn," He stopped for a second, realizing he was talking to much, "What I was trying to say is reading and writing are things almost all humans - and even some animals if we're talking about summoning - know."

Zyxis scratched his head, he realized he was talking less than he usually did. Maybe he should start to ask more questions? Ryūka was around his age, if not a bit older. He was viewing him more as a teacher to just learn from then to converse about. He cleared his throat, and slapped his cheeks, reassuring himself. "So, is writing one of your hobbies? I'm tending to notice you're quite fond of writing in that notebook of yours. What do you write about? You don't have to answer that if you don't want to, I don't mean to pry."

Their conversation would continue. As he began to talk about hand seals and their meanings he began to think back to when he first started using his chakra. He barely scratched the surface with his thoughts, but what were hand seals and where did they come from? Sure, they were zodiac signs, but where do zodiac signs come from. What is the origin of chakra? Before this meeting with Ryūka he wouldn't have thought about this and just did the training.

But to be the best you would have to know everything about chakra, the thing that made shinobi, shinobi, right? He paid back attention to Ryūka. "No, you're not going overboard. Actually, I think you're hitting a point that not a lot of people focus on during their shinobi career. Tell me, Ryūka, what do you think the origin of chakra is? Are there books on that? We've talked scarcely about it in the academy."

He began to apologize again about the philosophical talk. He shrugged, "It's okay. It's an important question to ask when dealing with Ninjutsu. It is easy to follow though. I would love to know about your thesis and research later."

Then Ryūka began to ask questions. Zyxis began, "Well, you already know my name. My deal is constantly improving. I like to learn things and I like to keep on learning things. It gives me satisfaction, always has. I'm a... quiet kind of guy. I like to stick to one thing, and then go on from there. I tend to get straight to the point sometimes, which is probably why I don't have any friends. My purpose for becoming a ninja?"

He 'hmm'ed as he thought about an answer. "Well my purpose for becoming a ninja... I'm not really sure. Ninja tend to learn the most, actually. There are so many different kinds of jutsu, and different kinds of things jutsu can do. As well as chakra, you can create new things and do anything you could dream of with the energy. But what I really want to be is Kage, or an ANBU at the least. Once I get there, I'm set. I'll know all I have to know, and then the next part of my life can start."

Zyxis smiled, "What about you? What made you want to become a ninja? What are your hobbies, likes, and dreams?"

Ryūka chuckled. He was starting to enjoy this conversation more than he thought he would when he first walked in to the boy’s training. “I can’t possibly give you enough credit for saying that. Yes, that is something I firmly believe, that writing and reading is an instinct as pure as breathing, walking, speaking. I guess you could perhaps say that it is an extension of the last. Speech, that can be kept around for the next generations. You do see the beauty in that, right? I’d assume so by the way you said that sentence.”. The genin was kind of surprised by the kid’s question, the first one that he had asked as far as Ryūka could recall. Granted, his short term memory was not that great, as the doctors told him that could be a problem possibly caused by whatever also caused him to lose his memories. Writing helped with that too. He would never forget anything he wrote, not even if he tossed it away, erased it or scribbled on it. He had a memory as close to a photographic memory as you could get, but exclusively for written words, and drawings, (sometimes including music).

“One of my hobbies? Um…”. Ryūka had seriously never put in much thought to what he would have called his love for writing. “I guess you could call it that. I have passion for it, that’s for sure. I love doing it, and I dedicate time to doing it. So, does that make it a hobby? What about you? Any hobbies, anything you’re passionate about?”. Ryūka listened for an answer if there was once as carefully as he could, his mind claiming independence and thinking, as it did whenever it wanted to, “I honestly gave no thought to this. I can’t believe it. Is it a hobby? Am I in love with writing. I mean, I love something about this. But do I enjoy the process of writing as well as the outcome, the product that comes out of it; or just the latter? I can’t even surely put my finger on that. Maybe this is a question that I have to evaluate and figure out an answer to so I can improve myself. Both in my writing and in general. To think that I was only looking for a silent spot to work on my lyrics, than heard someone running and was like, ‘Hey maybe joining them won’t hurt!’, and here we are, my perspective changed and widened, if only the smallest bit. I guess it just shows what the most insignificant example of taking a chance can do…”.

“It’s… interesting, amusing and quite welcome that you asked me that question by the way. And I now respect you a little bit more for it. To answer your other question is a bit more complex I’m afraid, and so I may not even be able to come up with an answer. If I have to give an answer I’d say maybe… Anything that’s... Magic? I won’t get anymore into it, because this is one of those rare occasions where explaining more would make it both mean less, and make it sound different from what it really is. Unexplainable, is what it is. Maybe if I can’t pinpoint what it is I write about, I can maybe tell you something that anything I ever write about has in common; that I’m passionate about it. That I feel some sort of pull towards it, an interest, even love, maybe.”. He tapped the place on his jacket where he could feel the notebook in it, from the outside. Just the physical presence of the notebook, that held no physical value, had enough power now to make Ryūka feel better.

He full on laughed after hearing Zyxis’ next question. “What’s with all these questions on deep topics, friend? I… The origin of chakra. I haven’t seen anything like that in any of the books that I’ve read, I can tell you that much. I bet there’s probably tons of theories going around, at least some of them definitely in some books; but I mean… I wouldn’t think that it’s possible to even make an educated guess, let alone actually scientifically figure it out and prove it. But, as long as there are people like me and people like you that are interested enough, the knowledge on the world will keep building, and one day, we may have all the answers we ask today. We’ll also have a ton of more questions though, probably.” Nero chuckled again. “If you asked for my guess? Chakra’s origin? I think it might be of pure passion. I mean, you could probably tell that I’m a lover of literature by now; and that might be playing a huge role in my guess for this; but there it is. I think passion, emotions can be powerful. Like, really powerful. I think something might’ve happened in the past, so beautiful or so awful; or maybe even both, that it straight up gave birth to chakra. I wouldn’t know though. Do you have any guess, or belief about the subject? I mean I would hope so, since you brought it up; (and I respect you even more for it) and I would love to hear anything you have to say on this topic.”. Ryūka listened. And he definitely did so with a smile on his face.

“Oh.” Ryūka exclaimed, hearing about the boy’s vision for the future. “Well hopefully you’ll get there one day. Be careful though, if you set goals like that, and have a mindset of ‘I want to become Kage, then I’m set.’, that could backfire. On the one hand you may never reach it, and I mean that’s fair, that’s a given with any dream or goal; but on the other end, if you do reach it, and that’s been your life goal for your whole life… What’s next? Anyway. I’m sure you’ll work it out somehow, you seem to have a greater grasp on things than most do. Me, on the other hand? I don’t have a clear goal like you to be honest. I’m just riding along with the tides and the wind. The reason I chose to become a ninja was to get to know more. As you’ve said, that’s a clear advantage. The side benefits, I really like. But more than that…”. Ryūka took out a kunai from his ninja pouch and started spinning it in his hands, “There is… Something beautiful, in wielding a sword. Drawing, writing, poetry, music, dancing, sword wielding… It somehow stands out, but also fits in. It’s quite curious, at least if you ask me. And I love it. I don’t care about ranks, titles, riches. But I do want to master this art, not necessarily to become the strongest to have ever lived, but just to do it. I believe like any form of art, doing it is its own prize.”. Ryūka chuckled, as he put his kunai back into his pouch. “I believe that answered most, if not all of your questions… Hopefully… Sorry if I babbled on for too long, I hope I’m not making you bored.”.

Ryūka sighed, or maybe it was him catching his breathing after speaking so much. He started warming up. “Tell me more.” Ryūka said, “About your family, your life, whatever. Where you born and raised in Kumo, or how did you get here? Tell me anything. Also what are your favorite ways to train? Cause here’s the thing…”. “So you want to become stronger… Well,” he said, “You came here to train, didn’t you? So did I. We can’t stand around all day and talk. At least let’s not do that by itself. They don’t really mention this in the academy, I think, but actually talking while training builds up so much stamina. You won’t have time to catch your breath in a real fight after all, so actually not allowing yourself to breath as much as you want to, really pushes you to put all your energy out when you’re moving. Want to give it a go?”. Ryūka’s body was itching for a real training after all of this talk. His body had been rusting ever since he had become a Genin after all. He was not about to take all of that disappointment out on this guy, however. He truly believed the words that came out of his mouth. After giving Zyxis a brief moment to think it over and answer, Ryūka would do the hand seal of confrontation, and allow the student to do the first attack. “Any answers you have to me, any questions you have for me right now, deliver them along with your punches. Bring it. Don’t hold back. Do be careful though, we are standing in a street, that’s not very optimal for a super energetic fight. Let’s try to keep our actions swift but controlled, so we don’t cause any damage, to each other or to the area around us. You know, otherwise the one of us who is actually part of the police force gets blamed for it.”. Ryūka smiled, and waited for an answer, verbal or physical.